18 goals for 2018

18 Goals for 2018

We are now a few days into the new year and before the full-on routine kicks back in. I thought I would take a little bit of time out to make some goals for the year ahead. No big new year new me kind of resolutions but some pretty doable task. That will make me feel better if they are achieved.

Read 10 books – I was going to aim for a book a month, but think to go from pretty much never reading ever. 10 was a reasonable target. I plan to read a mixture of soppy chick lit and business development book. Yes they are miles apart but I love to switch off with a chick lit. As much as I like to expand my knowledge of running a business.

No phone between 4pm-7pm – A social detox, ok that sounds a bit dramatic. But I know I spend far too much time with my phone in my hand. Not giving my children my full attention. Now they are all at school I think they deserve my full attention between tea time and bedtime, on weeknights.

Explore more local places – we love a good family day out. But often go further afield so I would love for our family to find more local places to explore within half an hours travel from our home.

Declutter – we have too much stuff in our house and it can become overwhelming. With myself, 4 kids and 1 young adult in the house there seems to be stuff everywhere. So I need to get rid of things that are not essential and give away, donate to charity or sell.

Double my blog following – in the last few months I have re-evaluated a few things in life and realise I want to do more of what I love. Well, I love blogging/writing, yes hard to believe that the once 11-year old that could hardly read or write now thrives off writing. So I want to reach more reads and share our family adventures and life’s challenges.

Lose a stone or more – in the last year, I have put on a little weigh. All my close are snug and I don’t feel comfortable with my weigh. So I need to tackle it before it goes out of control. I’m not sure if I’ll return to Slimming World or try something else. But whatever path I decide it needs to be done, I’ll keep you posted.

Plan my working week and stick to it – I’m sure I’m not the only work at home mum that sometimes gets distracted. Whether it be returning from the school run and then starting the washing. Agreeing to that last minute lunch date with a friend. Or popping to the shops. I am not always that disciplined and these tasks can bite into my working week. So need to plan my hours and keep to it, so that I achieve all the tasks I want to.

Save for Christmas – Towards the end of last year, I had some hefty unexpected bills, leave the Christmas budget pretty much non-existent. The kids didn’t go without and we still had a lovely time. But to save any worries in December 2018, I will save a little kitty for it. I’m going to pop £1.50 less than a Costa a day, in a money jar. I will then open it in December. If everything else has gone to plan financially through the year and we don’t need the kitty we can decide what to splurge it on as a family.

Look after my hair – I really don’t have time for myself or do I! Well I have decided that I’m going to make time. A few months ago I started to have subscription boxes from Treasure Tress. The boxes are full of goodies for curly hair mumma’s like me. So I will make sure that I have time to maintain my hair a couple of times a week at least.

A holiday somewhere new – I am hoping we will be able to take a week or two out somewhere completely new. We love an adventure, so I will keep researching places in the UK that we haven’t visited before.

See my eldest daughter pass her driving test – In our family it had been a bit of right of passage to learn to drive as soon as me and my sisters were 17. Even though I didn’t pass my test until I was 18 due to becoming a mother to said daughter! I want to keep the tradition going and think it is an essential life skill to be able to drive. So I will support her through this challenge and you never know by the end of the year she may be able to chauffer me places.

Cook from scratch – I am the first to admit I am a lazy cook. I tend to chuck in whatever I know the kids like and that is it. But towards the end of last year, I started to cook a few things from scratch. And wait for it actually enjoyed it, also as the kids helped they were happy to try new dishes too. So I’m definitely going to do this a couple of times a week. You never know a slow cooker might be on the horizon!

Spend time with my girlfriends – they say laughter is the best medicine. It’s true last year I spent a weekend away with a lovely group of ladies and we chatted laughed and drank for a weekend. It was amazing and so therapeutic. So more of that this year, please.

Teach all the kids to ride – I have been terrible at teaching the kids to ride, but this spring/summer I want to see all of the kids ride their bikes independently without stabilizers.

Walk more – unfortunately, we live too far away from the kid’s school to walk daily. But I love to walk (as long as it is not blowing a hoolie or bucketing it down!) so I’m going to make choices to park a little further away an walk. Instead of finding the most central car park in town. Plus the weekend’s I’m not working I we will still make the most of our walking adventures on family days out.

Take some great photos – I am love to take loads of pictures as most Mum’s do. But would love to treat me to a new camera and learn to take really amazing shots. And if I can find the time a photography course would be exciting to do. More likely to be a quick youtube tutorial though.

Get a new car – I am easily bored and even though my car does the job, I’ve had it over 4.5 years so it is certainly time for a change, but pretty limited for choice having 5 growing kids. But hopefully, by the end of the year, I will have new wheels parked outside.

Pen my story – ok so I’m not going to write a book, well not just yet anyway! But I love my life where it is now but it’s not been the easiest journey to get here. So I want to find the confidence to share some of my chapters that got to me to this point. If I can inspire one teen mum that has been told her life was over because she had a baby, to prove everyone wrong and succeed then it will be worth the share. Watch this space for more.

Lastly, if you have got this far thank you soooo much for reading and I hope you have a truly amazing 2018

2 thoughts on “18 goals for 2018”

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Ooh no phone between 4-7! I think I’d really struggle with that, which is a very sad thought but I completely agree with you as a goal. At the very least, I’d like to put my phone away a lot more when my daughter is around…just so addictive! Thanks for linking up to #fortheloveofBLOG